iPhone X and iPad Pro Win ‘Displays of the Year’ Awards

May 15, 2018

There are a lot of trade shows and events throughout the year, and one such event has given a couple of Apple’s latest devices some awards.

The Society of Information Display (SID) gave both the iPhone X and the iPad Pro the “Displays of the Year” awards during the Display Industry Awards. All of that is taking place during Display Week, a trade show that takes place every year. The awards are doled out for “high-quality, innovative work that is taking place in the display industry”.

“The annual Display Industry Awards luncheon is always a much-anticipated highlight of Display Week because it allows us to showcase the high-quality, innovative work that is taking place in the display industry at every level – from components to end products,” said Dr. Wei Chen, Chair of the Display Industry Awards Committee for SID. “Several of the winners feature new capabilities that will help drive broader levels of technology integration and adoption. Moreover, the companies chosen represent a mix of prior and first-time recipients of Display Industry Awards, further emphasizing the growth that continues to take place throughout the electronic display ecosystem. We’re excited to once again have the opportunity to recognize and honor these efforts.”

As for the categories, the iPad Pro won for “the most significant technological advances and/or outstanding features”, thanks to the ProMotion display and the support for the 120Hz refresh rate on the 10.5- and 12.9-inch tablets in that category.

“Apple’s newest iPad Pro displays feature the company’s innovative ProMotion technology, developed to enhance visual performance. Available in 10.5-in. and 12.9-in. sizes, both tablets offer the same pixel density of 264 pixels per inch (ppi), corresponding to 3.7 million and 5.6 million pixels, respectively. They deliver adaptive screen-refresh rates ranging from 24 to 120 hertz (Hz) – the first displays in mainstream consumer products to do so. The 120-Hz refresh rate supports fluid scrolling, excellent response to touch via a finger or Apple pencil, and smooth motion content. The ProMotion display technology is enabled by a new, high-performance oxide thin-film transistor (TFT), as well as newly engineered liquid-crystal materials and advanced photoalignment materials.”

The iPhone X, meanwhile, won in the Display Applications of the Year, for “novel and outstanding applications of a display, where the display itself is not necessarily a new device”.

The newest flagship iPhone won the award because it was ruled the smartphone is the first to drop “dedicated function keys”, and offer “no physical elements” as part of the design.

“The iPhone X is the first product in Apple’s iPhone series to fulfill the vision of a smartphone that is entirely screen, with no physical elements, keyboards or dedicated function buttons. With iPhone X, the lingering button on the face of the phone is eliminated, and the display becomes the primary element for all interaction, allowing the display to flow and entirely fill the face of the iPhone. The 5.8-in. Super Retina display features resolution of 458 ppi and is the first OLED panel to match the standard set by prior iPhone generations, delivering striking colors, true blacks, a million-to-one contrast ratio and superior, system-wide color management. The HDR display supports Dolby Vision and HDR10, which together serve to further heighten the image quality of photo and video content. In addition, True Tone dynamically adjusts the white balance of the display to match surrounding light for a more natural, paper-like viewing experience.”

There were plenty of other award winners, including a Sharp 70-inch TV, flexible displays from Kolon, and even the in-display fingerprint sensor Synaptics.

Our Take

There’s no denying the displays on both the iPhone X and iPad Pro are fantastic, especially for the reasons the award-givers provide. So it’s no surprise that the devices keep getting praised.